November 2-8, 2020 / Vol 39, No 44 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Commemorating ISS@20: Nobel Peace Prize Considerations and the Future of Humans in Deep Space

Aboard the human outpost, Expedition 64 Commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Flight Engineers Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Kathleen Rubins are set to celebrate 20 full years of continuous human occupation of the International Space Station, and look forward to the start of its 21st. ISS partner space agencies could one day receive a Nobel Peace Prize for this unique, peaceful, international, scientific, long-duration mission involving 241 Astronauts from 19 countries, and 3,000+ investigations from 108 countries. The Artemis program returning humans to the Moon, for good, could be more international, inclusive and dynamic – overcoming advanced challenges of working and living on another world and sustaining humans as a Multi World Species. (Image Credits: NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, CSA-ASC, SpaceX)

MONDAY

Nov 2 — Arianespace, Launch Soyuz / Falcon Eye 2, Sinnamary, French Guiana: Arianespace Soyuz rocket, designated VS24, to launch Falcon Eye 2 high-resolution Earth-imaging satellite for UAE, launch 21:33:28 EDT.

China 21st Century Lunar Surface Exploration Displays Robust Progression

Chang’e Mission Series, known collectively as Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, is poised for Phase 3 – lunar sample return – with CE-5 set to launch from Wenchang SLC, Hainan Island Nov 24 on a Long March-5 rocket. In the 21st century, teams from Europe, Japan, India, USA and Israel have reached the lunar surface via remotely piloted craft, but only China has soft-landed operational exploratory landers (CE-3/4). The 3,780-kg, 4-module (orbiter / lander / ascender / returner) CE-5 is to extract ~2 kg of lunar regolith from a depth ≤ 1 m, which will be lifted to an Earthbound return module within a terrestrial month, making China the 2nd nation to conduct robotic lunar collection after USSR. CE-6 is planned as a redundant backup should CE-5 fail, or in the event of mission success will be redirected to the far side of Moon South Pole region – thought to contain a higher concentration of volatiles such as water. 8,200-kg CE-7, scheduled for 2024, is to contain an orbiter, lander, ground rover, L2 communications relay with very long baseline interferometry node and a water detecting aerial drone of unspecified nature, focusing intently on MSP with an expected 23 science instruments. CE-8 is to focus on In-Situ Resource Utilization and 3-D printing, objectives with clear significance to permanent lunar settlement. (Image Credits: CNSA, Loren Roberts / The Planetary Society)

Nov 2-6 — Institute of Physics, ESA, et al, Online: European Space Weather Symposium 2020.

Nov 2 — Moon: 5.8° SE of Pleiades, 02:00; 4.5° N of Aldebaran, 20:00.

Nov 2 — Jupiter and Saturn: At heliocentric conjunction, 09:00.

Nov 2 — Apollo Asteroid 2018 VP1: Near Earth Flyby (0.003 AU)

Continued From…

Nov 2019 – Dec 2020 — Hayabusa2, Earth Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa2 on trajectory for Earth to return two samples collected from C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu; craft will then head toward Asteroid 1998 KY26, arriving 2031.

NET Nov 1 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / NROL-108, SLC-40, Cape Canaveral AFS: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch classified spacecraft payload for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

TUESDAY

Nov 3 — United Launch Alliance, Launch Atlas 5 / NROL-101, SLC-41, Cape Canaveral AFS: ULA Atlas 5 rocket to launch classified spacecraft payload for U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

Nov 3 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032: Panel on Mercury and the Moon Meeting 2.

Nov 3 — National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Online / Washington DC: A Mid-Term Assessment of NSF Progress on the 2015 Strategic Vision for Antarctic and Southern Ocean Research – Meeting 2.

Nov 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 UA3: Near Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)

Nov 3 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 HF4: Near Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)